Arcadia Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Valley County · Population 283 (2020 census) · ZIP 68815 · Founded 1885 · Peak population 745 (1920)

About Arcadia

Arcadia is a village of 283 people (2020) on the Middle Loup River in southwestern Valley County, at about 2,159 feet, about 16 miles southwest of Ord. NE 70 runs through town, northeast to Ord and west toward Westerville and Broken Bow, and NE 58 begins on NE 70 east of town and runs south to Loup City. Arcadia has its own PK–12 school, a Carnegie library, a post office and a riverside campground. Arcadia is on Central Time.

History

George McKeller and Porter Brown settled here in 1873, and the Samuel and Boone Hawthorne families followed in 1874; Mrs. Hawthorne named the place for Arcadia, the Greek region that stands for simple contentment, and Samuel Hawthorne became the first postmaster on June 27, 1874. John Wall and Parley Round platted the town site, recorded in October 1885, and the Burlington arrived in 1887. Arcadia reached 745 people in 1920, and has weathered locusts, blizzards, fires and tornadoes along the way. Its Carnegie library, designed by Fiske & Meginnis of Lincoln, opened in 1917 and was added to the National Register in 2020. Champion barrel racer June Holeman (1943–2018), who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo at 62, grew up on a ranch west of town.

Highways and trails through Arcadia

Route	One way	Other way
NE 70Through the village	Northeast to Ord	West to Westerville and Broken Bow
NE 58Begins on NE 70 east of town	South to Loup City	Ends at NE 70

Nearby towns

Comstock	about 11 mi north-northwest	County roads
Loup City	about 13 mi southeast	NE 58
Westerville	about 13 mi west	NE 70
Ord	about 16 mi northeast	NE 70
Litchfield	about 19 mi south	County roads
Elyria	about 19 mi north-northeast	NE 70 and NE 11
North Loup	about 19 mi east-northeast	NE 70 and NE 22
Sargent	about 20 mi northwest	County roads
Broken Bow	about 27 mi west	NE 70

Things to see

the Arcadia Township Library, 100 S. Reynolds St., a 1917 Carnegie building on the National Register · the Arcadia Centennial marker on NE 70 at the Middle Loup bridge · Arcadia Garden Club Park on Bridge Street by the river: full-hookup and water-and-electric sites · the Arcadia Fall Festival around Labor Day

Events in Arcadia

Arcadia Fall Festival
Arcadia Fall Festival is held in Arcadia, Nebraska, on Labor Day weekend (Saturday to Monday).

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Arcadia Public Schools, 320 W. Owens St., (308) 789-6522: Arcadia Elementary (PK–6) and Arcadia High School (7–12), the Huskies

Health care: Nearest hospital: Valley County Health System, 2707 L St., Ord, (308) 728-4200, about 16 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Valley County (offices); History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings; courthouses.co; Nebraska Game and Parks (Fort Hartsuff); NDOT and VisitNebraska (Loup Rivers Scenic Byway); FAA/AirNav; Valley County Health System; SchoolDigger; Lower Loup NRD; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Brookings Institution; KOLN 10/11; KNLV; Nebraska Passport; Campendium. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.